Thursday, January 28, 2016

My first 'series' of LTC's. I printed the backs of the cards in April 2012. It's now almost four years later and I finally completed the series!
Pisces was one of the first that I carved, Sagittarius was the final one.

I'm thinking about redoing the older cards with the smaller, more detailed images.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Unlike my other posts, this one is showing a card that hasn't been completed yet!

I've been planning a card that uses a background map with "Shrinky Dinks" landmarks on it. My first thought was London, but I decided on a map of the USA.

I started by carving the background map. This was one of the hardest stamps I've ever carved! Everyone knows what it should look like and even the smallest mistake is obvious. I decided to carve it at 3.5x5 for the extra detail and space.

I also carved the "Landmarks" stamps. Then I stamped up a set and shrunk them.

I added the plastic pieces onto the map. I had to fit each one into its area that matches the theme.
Disney castle in Florida, the riverboat on the Mississippi River, Route 66 in the Southwest...

This is a folding card so I also need to watch how they fit together when the card is folded. Each piece claims a spot mirror-image from where I place it. Notice how the riverboat fits around the wagon and above Route 66! If you look closely you can see dried glue from where I moved them to make room. The bridge has some extra room and I might carve a larger lighthouse, that is the smallest stamp and there's plenty of room in the corner.

Next I need to decide on a background paper and colors for each stamp. The wagon will be brown and the castle blue. Finally I will need to carve something for the front of the card when it's folded. I still have four months before the tracker is due. I will work on stamping up the plastic (all 100+ pieces of them!) while I play around with different paper choices.
This card might break the record for the most carving rubber used on a single card!!